（英语语言文学专业论文）逆境中的儿童+救赎的梦.pdf

摘要 vii 摘要摘要 凯瑟琳佩特森是当今世界上获奖众多最受欢迎的美国儿童文学家之一。她 的小说木偶大师和了不起的吉利霍普金斯 分别于 1976 年，1979 年获 美国国家图书奖。两次纽伯里奖是 1977 年小说通向特拉比西亚的桥和 1981 年得宠的雅各布 。历史小说基普的故事 于 1996 年获司各特奥戴尔奖。 她还分别于 1998 年和 2006 年两次获得世界最高儿童文学奖: 国际安徒生儿童文 学奖和纪念林德格伦儿童文学奖；其中纪念林德格伦儿童文学奖还被誉为“诺贝 尔儿童文学奖”。凯瑟琳佩特森因擅长描写逆境中儿童内心斗争而著称，她的作 品被奉为当代儿童文学的经典。 研究她的作品将有助于进一步了解美国当代最优 秀的儿童文学作品。 凯瑟琳最受欢迎的小说是通向特拉比西亚的桥 ，于 1978 年获纽伯里奖。 该书一经面世便备受青睐：被澳大利亚，加拿大，新西兰，英国以及美国的英语 研究会广为研究； 美国公共电视网 pbs 于 1985 年将其拍成了电影； 迪斯尼华尔 顿传媒公司 2007 年将它改成了戏剧电影。该书同时也频频成为批评家们攻击的 对象。在美国图书馆联合会列出的 1990 到 2000 十年间最受挑战的百部图书中， 通向特拉比西亚的桥排在第九。它是人们最不想让孩子阅读的十本书之一。 原因是批评家们认为该书的死亡主题对于儿童而言过于沉重。然而，作者却是因 为其儿子的好友丽莎希尔在海滩被雷电击毙而萌发的写作灵感。即便是一部儿 童小说，它也脱离不了现实世界里儿童的真实生活。同时该小说作于美国多元文 化背景下， 通向特拉比西亚的桥也打上了美国文学深深的烙印-美国梦。本 文试图通过分析小说的主题、 主要人物和主要场景揭示美国梦在儿童小说中的具 体体现及对于像小说主人公杰西这样的“欠受关注”儿童而言美国梦的真正意义。 凯瑟琳佩特森擅长描写逆境中弱势儿童更为艰巨的心理斗争，小说没有回避诸 如死亡、家庭冷漠、校园欺凌等沉重主题。因为只有身处逆境才更需要梦想，只 有逆境才能更好地诠释梦想。 文章分为五部分。第一部分引言将就本文作者选题理由，研究的问题，研究 目标和研究方法做出简要说明。 第一章是背景简介。首先是作者生平背景，写作生涯及作品特点以及文学地 位的介绍。然后是小说通向特拉比西亚的桥的简介及该书的研究状况。 摘要 viii 第二章将介绍美国梦的定义，起源，特征及其它对美国文学的影响。同时关 于美国儿童文学的概况也将在这一部分加以说明以探求美国梦与美国儿童文学 的结合点。 第三章是本文的核心部分。作者通过分析作品中的典型场景，主要意象，主 要人物及主人公的心理变化从五个方面展示美国梦元素在小说中的具体体现： 1） 梦的前提：逆境 2）社会群体差距：梦的激励 3）均等机会：梦的保证 4）内心 的独立与自信：通向梦的桥梁。5）结果：社会的活力。 最后一部分是结论。 即使是面向特殊群体的儿童文学也不能脱离客观现实世 界而存在。 现实中的儿童尤其是弱势儿童同样避免不了要面对孤独， 冷漠， 轻视， 欺凌甚至是死亡。既然现实不可避免也不可被儿童改变，如何应对生活中的挫折 和打击成了该群体儿童无法回避的必修课。 他们可以选择逃避或极端的方式向世 人证明自己的存在， 寻求自身的尊严； 这部分儿童通常就是世人眼中的问题儿童。 正确方法疏导下的儿童选择勇敢的面对和承担； 信念支撑着他们相信努力之后的 成功；而信念的源泉来自于梦想！儿童真实生活以及他们必须经历的奋斗恰恰是 美国梦各个元素在儿童世界中的具体体现。 一位成功儿童的成长史就是一个如何 实现美国梦的儿童美国梦。 美国儿童所处的社会提供给他们平等机会实现美国梦 的外部保障，儿童文学则对这些未来公民核心价值观的形成施加了深远的影响， 而这些未来公民的独立与自信必将成为保证美国梦实现的内部决定因素。 对于美 国儿童而言，美国梦就是他们不变的精神支柱。美国儿童文学的作用之一就是给 儿童种植美国梦的文学。 关键词：关键词：儿童文学，凯瑟琳佩特森， 通向特拉比西亚的桥 ，美国梦 abstract iv abstract katherine paterson is one of the most highly acclaimed award-winning american authors of childrens literature in the world today. her awards include twice national book award (master puppeteer, 1976; the great gilly hopkins, 1979), twice newbery medal (bridge to terabithia, 1977; jacob have i loved 1981), the scott odell award for historical fictions (jip, his story, 1996), and the top international prizes for childrens literature the hans christian andersen medal (1998), the astrid lindgren memorial award (2006) also known as nobel prizes for childrens literature. known for her meticulous description of the spiritual struggle for a better life of underprivileged children, katherines works are regarded as classics of contemporary childrens literature of america. the study of her works will shed light on the best of contemporary childrens literature in the united states. her most well-received book is bridge to terabithia, a newbery medal winner. the book has up to now got such attention that it is studied in english studies classes in australia, canada, new zealand, united kingdom, and the united states. pbs made a tv movie in 1985. disney and walden media made a theatrical film version in 2007. the bridge to terabithia book is frequently challenged for content, and is number 9 on the list compiled by the american library association of the 100 most frequently challenge books from 1990 to 2000. that is, the book is the top 10 books that people wanted banned so that kids couldnt read it. critics claim that death is too heavy a theme for children. however, the author actually was inspired to write the book after lisa hill, a friend of her sons, was struck by lightning while on a beach and killed. though a book for children, bridge to terabithia can not be immune to the reality and avoid the eternal theme of american literature- american dream. this thesis aims at examining this severely argued novels motif, main characters, major symbols trying to find out how american dream is reflected in american childrens literature and what american dream means to an underprivileged child like the abstract v protagonist, jesse. katherine paterson has a particular talent for depicting the harder inner struggle of the disadvantaged children and she didnt avoid such heavy themes as death, indifference at home and school bullying. only in these adverse circumstances is the dream more needed by the children and can the dream be better interpreted. the thesis falls into five parts. the reason for choosing this theme, the questions to be discussed, the aim of the study and the approaches of research will be given in the first part- introduction. chapter i will deal with the brief introduction of the author, katherine paterson and her masterpiece, bridge to terabithia, and relevant background information will be included as well. a brief review of the study of the novel is also necessary to be introduced in this chapter. chapter ii will be dedicated to the definition, origin, features of american dream and its influence on american literature. a brief introduction to american childrens literature will be given in this part, therefore, an exploration of a possible combination of american dream and american childrens literature is made. chapter iii is the central part of the thesis. the author wants to present the major features and the core elements of american dream reflected in this novel through analyzing typical scenes, the main characters, their psychological changes in this novel in terms of five aspects 1）adverse circumstances: the prerequisite/soil of the dream. 2) discrepancies/gap of social groups: the stimulus of the dream 3) equal opportunities: guarantee of the dream 4）confidence and independence from the inner heart: the bridge to the dream. result: the mobility and dynamism of the society the last part is the conclusion. childrens literature though for a special group, children, it can and should reflect the real life and hardships of the disadvantaged children and as for children themselves, they cant avoid facing, standing the heavy loss like death and have to seek the right responding way. under the great oppression of being ignored, being despised, being tied up by fetters of old tradition, underprivileged children can choose either to run away and adopt some extreme ways to prove their existence and become the so- called problematic adolescents or to stand abstract vi up bravely to search their own identity and pursue their own individuality as well as freedom because they believe, for them, success must and only follow efforts. the real life of children and the struggle they have to go through or rather the experiences of a successful child just reflect how childrens american dream is achieved. the social system has already offered the outer guarantee for achieving ones american dream, while the literature for the young adults has its deep influence on the formation of the future citizen s core sense of value such as independence and confidence which is considered the key inner element to guarantee the realization of american dream. the resource of their belief is that they always have opportunities of maintaining dreams. american dream actually has always been and is the spiritual pillar especially for such children. it is one of the very roles that american childrens literature has played in implanting american dream in american childrens mind. key words: childrens literature， katherine paterson, bridge to terabithia, american dream 论文独创性声明 iii 论文独创性声明 本人声明所呈交的学位论文是本人在导师指导下进行的研究工作及取得的 研究成果。据我所知，除了文中特别加以标注和致谢的地方外，论文中不包含其 他人已经发表或撰写过的研究成果， 也不包含为获得 南昌大学 或其他教育机构 的学位或证书而使用过的材料。 与我一同工作的同志对本研究所做的任何贡献均 已在论文中作了明确的说明并表示谢意。 学位论文作者签名（手写） ： 签字日期： 年 月 日 学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解南昌大学有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，有权 保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和磁盘，允许论文被查阅和借 阅。 本人授权南昌大学可以将学位论文的全部或部分内容编入有关数据库进行检 索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存、汇编本学位论文。同时授权中 国科学技术信息研究所将本学位论文收录到中国学位论文全文数据库 ，并通 过网络向社会公众提供信息服务。 （保密的学位论文在解密后适用本授权书） 学位论文作者签名（手写） ： 导师签名（手写） ： 签字日期： 年 月 日 签字日期： 年 月 日 introduction 1 introduction the discovery of the child. in the long history of the big family of literature, people never thought of such a literary category as childrens literature. stories like thomas malorys (1486) and the tales of robin hood (c. 1450) were not written with children in mind. in 1658 jan amos komensky published the illustrated informational book orbis pictus in czechoslovakia. it is considered to be the first picture book published specifically for children. also during this time, charles perrault (16281703) laid the foundations of the fairy tale in france. his stories include little red riding hood, sleeping beauty, puss in boots, and cinderella. until 1744, when john newbery published a little pretty pocket-book in england, people could see a landmark for the beginning of pleasure reading marketed specifically to children. literature for children never got any attention just because children were not “discovered”. in a world ruled by the adults, children were just the adults miniature attached to them. until late 18th century with the development of enlightenment, people began to focus their attention on humans existence. french thinker, educator and writer rousseaus biography novel emile published in 1762 first viewed children as a special group with independent identity. he first pointed out that children should be respected and childrens nature should be recognized and they should be educated according to their age, personality, gender and other characteristics; which paved the way for the fast development of childrens literature. ideas about children. once children enter peoples eyes, the question what on earth the child is set many scholars thinking. no problem will exist if we just define the concept of child biologically, but as a special social group, childrens complicated features and their positions in society undoubtedly can not be described in a word. as mentioned above, in the ancient times, children were just viewed as the preparation for the adult world, they were adults miniatures. ancient greeks threw their unhealthy or not strong enough babies into the wild. before the 19th century chinese children never had any rights to have their voices heard. nobody was really concerned introduction 2 with what a child actually wanted and whether theres any difference between an adult and a child. children were never respected as independent individuals. with the development of civilization, around the 17th century people began to view that children were like the flowers in the garden, they needed watering fertilizing and pruning. this view, to some extent, unveiled the basic characteristics of the concept of child: 1) child, unlike adult, needs caring; 2) child, unlike adult, needs pruning. in what way children should be treated properly and guided efficiently is the crucial problem in studying and writing childrens literature. childrens literature. the concept of the child is the philosophical basis on which childrens literature theory is set up(wang quangen). a scientific concept of the child, i believe, is also the prerequisite to understanding what is basic for childrens literature. “children are small but childrens literature is not small; children are the buds for big trees. the works for children should arouse childrens lofty sentiment with their understanding and reception.”(binxin). from wikipedia, the most popular encyclopedia on line, childrens literature is defined as follows: childrens literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve and is often illustrated. this definition is obviously too general to include the basic characteristics of childrens literature. according to huangyunsheng, a definition of childrens literature should at least include the following aspects: 1. childrens literature is all the works written for children; 2. childrens literature is an art of language with unique artistic characteristics and aesthetic value. 3. childrens literature should be fit for children and cater for childrens interests. 4. childrens literature has multi-layer functions as aesthetic, cognition, entertainment education etc.(this is the authors own translation from huang yunshengs book, brief introduction to childrens literature.儿童文学 概论) while today, in a prosperous economic age, more attention is put to the limited understanding ability of children and attracting childrens immediate interest has become many writers priority so that economic profits can be achieved easily. therefore, spirit of play, stories of fantasy bearing little significance for childrens cognition and education came to occupy many childrens spare time. other than this kind of works “especially for children”, i think every kind of literature is more or less introduction 3 a mirror of the real society. even children can not be insulated from the real world where they live. the ethos of the united states. it is well-known that the united states, unlike most other nations, defines itself not on the facts of blood, religion, language, geography, or shared history; or rather it is a country of immigrants and a cold platter. but just in this country of salad plate - the seemingly various people with different beliefs created the most unbelievable legend - made the wealthiest country in the shortest time! people seldom pause to ask its reasons. it is safe to say that numerous researchers have got the same answer - it is the very core of the set of ideals expressed in the declaration of independence and consolidated in the constitution: american dream; which unites all the people to approach the same goal. american dream or american spirit is no doubt the ethos of the nation and the eternal theme of american literature as well. therefore, this thesis attempts to find out how the ethos was inoculated in american childrens minds via the way of childrens literature from generation to generation. reasons for choosing the study and the possible significance of this theme. firstly, although childrens literature is young and has for many years remained in a peripheral position of literary study, it is nevertheless a special also an indispensible component of literature system. “childrens literature shoulders the responsibility of forming nations personality of the future generation.” (caowenxuan). the influence of childrens literature can not be ignored. this new literary land needs to be well cultivated. secondly, up to now, people have come to be acutely aware of the significance of american dream and have made great achievements in the study of its impacts and its development. the research includes black american dream, jewish american dream, asian american dream etc, or even in recent years the skeptics of american dream have focused on the disillusionment and new challenges of this ever eyeball-attracting american dream. but few people kept an eye on childrens american dream. yet the fact that the positive impact the nations ethos has on her people is undisputable even though this backbone of the unique nation is facing some unprecedented challenge. introduction 4 therefore, to view american dream from this perspective is totally new, and its definitely of great importance to the understanding of classic american childrens literature. the study will also provide a new way to understand how childrens literature put an influence on the formation of american people. thirdly, katherines works are regarded as classics of contemporary childrens literature of america. the study of her works will shed light on the best of contemporary childrens literature in the united states. with the development of economy chinese people are putting more emphasis on childrens education, and what should be provide for 40 million chinese children becomes more and more crucial. fourthly, the single child policy in china has brought the new little kings era in which children in each family are nurtured in every way but the way of encouraging them to face the challenges they can not avoid for themselves due to parents overwhelming caring. according to the results of various investigations, compared with american children, chinese children seem to be less independent and less creative. the tentative study is attempting to find out the possible reasons and draw more attention to it so that we can use the beneficial part as our reference. finally, katherine patersons experience attracted my attention. katherine paterson was born in china and several of her books were set in china, for example, rebels of the heavenly kingdom. such a writer should be less fettered by american “native cultural tradition” and have a more objective and sensitive eye on american childrens life. research questions. the author of the thesis is making an attempt to clarify the following questions: 1. should childrens literature reflect real life. 2. what are the common features of the works of katherine paterson. 3. what is the essence of american dream and what are the necessary elements of it. 4. how are the elements of american dream reflected in american childrens literature and how urgently is it needed and interpreted by the protagonist, jesse oliver aarons jr., of the novel, bridge to terabithia. introduction 5 both american childrens literature and american dream have been well researched respectively; but it would be of both particular theoretical and practical significance if we can see a perfect combination of these two. this thesis is trying to draw such a tentative conclusion as american childrens literature actually is a literature that is immersed in american dream. chapter i background information 6 chapter i background information although katherine paterson was born in china and chinese is her first language; she may not be familiar to the